True War Part 1
by S.F.I. Lawrence
Summary: This is a whatif scenario: What if General Grievous had managed to escape, then figure out the whole war has been a power play by a Sith Lord?
1. Chapter 1

Utapau, 3rd year of the war  
General Grievous is speeding down the Separatist facility, wondering how he can get rid of the pesky General Kenobi and his blasted dragon. He then makes a decision that will save his life. He brings up a data pad, keys in a code, and transmits it. Somewhere deep in the facility, _something_ flickers to life...  
Meanwhile, Commander Cody is ordering his troops to go further in, when the whole base starts shaking. The thing from earlier leaps out of a hole, and turns out to be a prototype magnaguard. It sprints over to a spare uni-bike, collecting the General's dropped lightsabers as it goes, and pilots it out. Commander Cody is now thinking, "What the hell was that about?" when the base starts rumbling again. Outside, the panels of the facility start moving and sliding back, some of them breaking off with strain, the clones having to hold on for dear life. General Grievous's personal dreadnought, the _Sword of Kalee_, floats out, and begins searching. During its search, it attacks Pau City and the Republic invasion forces with its high-powered turbolasers, destroying many gunships and setting the city ablaze... Meanwhile, on a lower level platform, Kenobi and Grievous are brawling. It is close to the point where Obi-Wan would rip his chest cavity open, when the magnaguard arrives. It throws the General his lightsabers (one of which Obi-Wan catches) and tells him to get away while he holds Kenobi off. It fights much better than it's brethren, parrying the cut that beheaded it's brother, but Kenobi soon tires of it, and leaps over, hacking at the starfighter's engines. General Grievous, now very angry, rises from the cockpit, prepared to kill Kenobi for ruining his favorite starfighter. At that moment though, the dreadnought arrives, and he changes his mind. He and the guard leap over, Kenobi in pursuit, saying, "Leaving so soon, General?" He is kicked back off however, and lands just as the fighter explodes, losing an eye to shrapnel. As the dreadnought begins to leave Utapau, It creates more havoc, releasing biological weapons, pounding Republic positions, and blasting down the Utapaun resistance. As it gets higher into the atmosphere, it engages the Venators, heavily damaging some, and, using mirrored hull plates, reflects their SPAHT cannon fire, fatally blowing holes in one. It leaves Utapau, and goes into hyperspace... Despite the General's protests, the magnaguard insists on giving him repairs. It operates on the his chest cavity and lungs, gives him new arms made of phrik-duranium alloy, and installs a cutting edge energy absorption system. During this, it asks what has happened to its brothers. The General looks uneasily at it, knowing now why it was put into storage, but answers its question. The guard looks down at the floor, hisses with anger, and then looks up, telling the General not to mind, and to think about the assault on Utapau. The General then becomes suspicious about the proximity of Sidious' messages and the Republic attack, and decides to look at some holo recordings... I require reviews for this, please. 


	2. Chapter 2

Separatist Dreadnought, Unknown Coordinates

General Grievous is watching some holorecordings of Sideous' messages and Palpatine's speeches, listening carefully to each one, hunting for a match. When he can't find one, he snarls with disgust, bangs on his armrest, and looks at the ceiling, muttering a curse in Kaleesh. The Magnaguard, who has been watching from the sidelines, comes into view with a suggestion, "If Palpatine is indeed Sideous, wouldn't he disguise his voice enough so that no ear could find a similarity, sir?" The General doesn't say anything, just sighs deeply, resigned to the fact that he has to rely on a blasted computer to solve this. When the voice scan comes up positive, Grievous looks back and forth between the two scanners, then stops, shaking with fury. He punches out both scanners, roaring as loud as his voice can go, a single thought in his enraged mind: He and the whole rest of the Confederacy have been played for fools the entire war! He sweeps out of the room, fuming, as the Magnaguard follows, its posture triumphant... General Grievous storms onto the bridge, issuing a fateful order, "Signal all available ships to jump to the Coruscant system immediately!" And with that, the general stomps off to his chambers to prepare for the coming battle...

In Grievous's chambers, he is practicing using a duelist elite fencing droid. One minute in though, and he's already lopped its head off. "Oh come on, a Sith isn't going to die that easily!" He yells at the smoldering head. "Need a better duelist?" the Magnaguard asks from the door. Grievous accepts and gets something he didn't expect: a droid that can hold him off even when he feels at his best. The guard, its posture weary, asks another question, "Am I...? The last of my order?" Grievous raises a ravaged eyebrow, but answers, "No, if I remember right, there are still three more in the cargo bay, though _you_ will train them." At this, the Magnaguard's posture relaxes, and a voice comes onto the comm, "General Grievous, report to Bridge" The armada has arrived, 50 thousand strong, and quite capable of subjugating Coruscant. "Any orders before we attack, sir?" the captain asks nervously. "Three. Order all ships to put their jamming capabilities to the limit, and if possible, boost them. Next, deploy drop ships, and order them to attack broadcasting and power stations. Finally, intercept any transmissions that get through!" "Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, down on the planet, Lord Sideous watches his new apprentice go, and then prepares to set his grand scheme in motion... Back on Utapau, since the dreadnaught made its appearance, things have gotten steadily worse. Artillery positions were blown to pieces, debris from the atmospheric skirmish fell into the sinkhole, turrets were revealed when the base shifted around, and everything in the storage bay was activated, meaning thousands more droids, tanks, and fighters. Since that, Cody has commanded Obi-wan's troops while he recovers inside a gunship. Suddenly, a transmission from Coruscant comes through, though pretty snowy. "Commander Cody," the vile one croaks, "Execute Ord-" Miraculously though, the message is intercepted, and Order 66 is stalled. "Sir, we've lost all communications with Coruscant!" "Not again," Kenobi groans, "notify the other generals..."

Once again, reviews needed!


	3. Chapter 3

Utapau, Republic Command Center  
Obi-wan Kenobi groaned again as he rubbed his bandaged temples. "He just _had_ to attack Coruscant twice in the same week. Wasn't one dismal failure enough for him to back off? Ooooohhh, just when I'd finally chased him down too, and he had to summon that blasted thing! OW!" "Sir, I wouldn't advise you straining yourself when the medics have just taken you out of shock." Cody advised, or from Kenobi's standpoint, nagged. The middle-aged general glowered back, "I'm fit enough to walk, blast it! I have more important things to worry about, and so do you! Have you stopped that armor division from reaching the _Consul_? Is her communications array intact?" "Yes general, we have full range and power, our defense line is holding. Oh, further good news: Generals Tiin and Fisto's reinforcements have arrived. They're taking over for us." Kenobi sighed. Now time to alert the others before its too late...  
Cato Neimondia, Skies above Separatist base-city  
General Plo Koon surveyed the hazy metropolis through his cockpit window. Wonder my foot, he thought, full of anti-air ordinance and fighter storage-and-launch slots. "Captain, signal the squadron to begin their attack run, flak turrets first." "Yes sir." Let the chaos begin, Koon thought, smirking behind his mask as he gripped the throttle and pulled the trigger. "Bandits at 11 o'clock low, coming in fast, engage?" "No, stay on the flak Omicron 2. 4,6, cover him, Captain, bring the rest of the squadron to me, we're going in, signal the_ Bactris_ to assist." Anticipation filled the general as he watched the hundreds of tri-fighters swarming from their warrens toward him, molten durasteel splattering his cockpit as his squadron's weapons cut through the opposition. A tone from his comm brought him out of his combat revelry as the _Bactris_ found her targets and proceeded to bomb the hell out of the factories. "General, I am receiving a relay transmission from the _Bactris_. It's source... General, it's Kenobi!" "What?! Patch it through, quickly!" Plo Koon barked, his demeanor all seriousness. A foot-high, cobalt projection of Obi-Wan Kenobi materialized on the pad, his charred visage grim in expression." Master Kenobi, is there something wrong? How did the fight with Grievous go," he quipped, staring at his fellow's ruined face, "Badly?" "I've always hated your rhetorical questions, Koon. General Grievous, Butcher of Humbarine, has escaped, and, from what we have heard, He may yet become Butcher of Coruscant." All the air blasted out of Plo Koon's lungs with the force of a slug rifle, so that his mask flew off, hitting the window."Whuh-,whu-, why was I relayed first? Do I look like head of the council?!" He wheezed angrily, his mask back on. "You are one of the few generals in close proximity to the capital that has a large assault fleet. Relay this message to all Council members, particularly Master Yoda, and gather up the other generals and fleet commanders. I will rendezvous with you at the Coruscant system with reinforcements. Good luck, and may the Force be with us all..." The hologram switched off, leaving Plo Koon flabbergasted. Let's just hope the Butcher still has a weakened chest, he thought glumly.

Coruscant, Separatist Dreadnought _Sword of Kalee_  
The Butcher of Humbarine,AKA, General Grievous looked down at the city skyline, a hungry look in his eyes. I can finally kill this scum, no orders to capture or drag away, nor any other stupid thing, Grievous thought. "Looking forward to a good hunt, General?" He whirled around, still not used to a chatty droid bodyguard. He could swear that if this droid had a moving face, it'd be grinning right then. "What's to hunt, he's going to stay in his tower, the louse," he said, disgruntled," And if I want more sport at the temple, he'll escape." The guard paused for a moment, then said, "Sir, I will hold Palpatine down while you go to the Jedi Temple, I am quite capable..." Grievous gave a derisive snort. "Droid, you may have been able to stand your ground against me, but how long to do you think, oh sorry, _estimate_you're going to last against a fully trained Sith Lord?" The Magnaguard stared at Grievous, its posture defiant. "Oh alright," he hissed, "but your blueprints are stored in the main computer, so you're dispensable until you prove your worth, compute that." He stomped off the bridge, eager for the hunt, leaving the Guard uncertain.

Jedi Temple, Main entrance  
The Jedi must suffer, Darth Vader thought murderously. He was Anakin Skywalker, and he still is, more or less, physically. His eyes were beginning to take on the yellowish glint of the Sith, however. This maniacal desire to slaughter the Jedi order blinded him to many things... including the ship hovering in the clouds, ready to pounce. As soon as this gothic figure entered the temple with his clone entourage, the ship sweeps down, blasts the sentries left behind, then disgorges its cargo. Grievous speeds ahead, looking for the most intimidating entrance... In the Library, Darth Vader is about to begin his rampage by killing Jocusta Nu when he hears the screams of the front most clones. He whips around to see them dead or dying, and a white something speeding upward out of sight. Vader looks up, and then ignites his lightsabre as he sees the monstrous shape of the General coming down at him. There's a brief clash, but Grievous quickly gains the upper hand, grabbing him by the throat and snarling, "A pathetic renegade Jedi has no importance to me!" before punting him into a library shelf, demolishing it. He turns around, feeling smug, to see that Nu has rallied the Jedi. "A loud and brutal monster like you does not belong in my library. Out, OUT!" What was left of Grievous' face beneath his mask twisted into a grin as the monster snapped his fingers. All the windows blasted open, battle droids flowing in. As Nu lunged at him, Grievous thought, Let the fun begin...

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
Jedi Temple, Meditation chamber  
Meditation was a restful and sometimes enlightening pastime for a Jedi of sufficient experience. Such was Master Shaak Ti, Who at the moment was immersed in the Force, listening to it with a growing look of concern on her face. She could sense all the other Jedi on the floors below her, but in the Library, where there was normally a feeling of curiosity and learning, fear, outrage, and a smack of terror were the dominant feelings now. Powerful individuals, strong in the force, suddenly vanished from her senses, as if cut down by powerful but strangely invisible force. The determination of clone troopers she had sensed earlier wavered to panic. And they were getting closer. Suddenly the need for a sixth sense ceased with the sounds of blaster fire and barked orders close by. A young padawan, his light saber drawn, hurried past, a company of troopers following. "Get in defensive position now!" barked the sergeant, looking for a piece of cover. "General Ti, try to get us some support, we're being pushed back!" "Wait, we're under attack!? By who?" "General Grievous ma'am and we can't stop him!"

General Grievous was pleased. Very pleased. 16 Jedi and 3 dozen clones had already fallen to his blades, with the promise many more on the floors above. "The hunt is good, but that droid had better done his job," he thought grumpily, as he quartered the shaking padawan before him, "Otherwise it'll all be for nothing." Dispelling the troubling idea, he chased the retreating clones up the main stairway, his army close behind him. "There had better be a competent master up there, not some dusty librarian, or this will take a while," he growled. Upon thrusting open the doors that the clones had retreated behind, a pleasant surprise awaited him: Shaak Ti, her weapon ("My next trophy!" he chuckled) ignited, stood in the middle of the room, her face defiant. "Ah, Shaak Ti! How nice to see you alive," he eyed her saber, "And armed! Nevertheless, neither you nor your pitiful attempt at an ambush, (he sprang forward as they rappelled down) will stop me and my army!" He snapped his fingers, a sound that immediately set off a preprogrammed firestorm from the HMP gunships, barbecuing the clones but leaving the now impressively furious Shaak Ti barely singed. "You abomination!!" "Now, now, don't be sore, you're only about to be cut down, then blasted to ashes!" And to his astonishment, she regained her composure and strange smile alighted her face "Blasted to ashes? By who?" and she gave what seemed to be a cheery little wave. "What do you...? WHAT??!!!" The doors whizzed shut, and the durasteel shield came down over it. The General turned slowly back towards his prey, eyes bulging in anger. "For this, I will tear you limb from limb!"

In the Library, once a war zone was as quiet as the grave, save for the sparking of destroyed archives, the whirring of crippled droids trying to stand... and a faint groaning. Anakin Skywalker unsteadily rose from the floor, his eyes bloodshot, head bleeding, with a strong desire to murder someone. In particular, General Grievous...

Back in the meditation chamber, things have gone haywire. Grievous is a whirling dervish of sabers, making it progressively harder for Shaak Ti to parry as he draws out more sabers. "You're weakening Jedi, and you know it!" "Grievous, unless you want to be reduced to scrap, surrender! You may fight well, but the Force is stronger!" She leaped back, then swung all the debris in the room at one spot: Grievous. The resulting hit crumpled him against the blast door with a sickening crunch. With a sigh of relief, she looked out the shattered window for something to climb down with. "I'm not finished with you yet, Jedi." With a thrill of horror, she whirled around to see Grievous rising from the floor, a manic gleam in his eyes, and, though she saw it only for a moment, a spider web of energy covering his torso, infusing him with power not seen even at Hypori. Knowing that any further resistance would utterly futile, Shaak Ti leaped from the window all the way over to the main spire, temporarily safe...

500 Republica  
IGX-113 was anxious to prove its worth to its master, and knew that nothing could stand in its way to do so…


	5. Chapter 5

Coruscant, Ground Zero

Coruscant, Ground Zero

Coruscant was burning. Smoke and ash choked the air along with the flames, becoming evermore toxic with nuclear fallout for those not equipped for it. The grand skyscrapers that had once towered into the heavens were now either lying in ruin or being blasted at close range by Separatist cruisers and drop ships. Republic ships and land personnel desperately tried to stop the enemy in orbit and planetside, but to little avail. The Capitol itself was quickly becoming an inferno with the Confederate bombing intensifying. Amongst this chaos flew a decidedly unique interceptor ship. The first odd thing that you will notice will be that the ship was originally a regular Delta-7 fighter, but heavily modified and customized with Confederate and Sith technology and parts to the point where it only barely resembles the original model. The second thing that an observant watcher will notice is that where the insignia of the Republic once was, the mark has now been scuffed off and painted over with a winged Separatist symbol. And finally, within the distorted cockpit can be seen the masked face of a Kaleeshi warrior, it's eyes rapidly darting about, taking in the Gotterdammerung around it, regarding the suffering below with supreme satisfaction. "All of those decadent fools deserve their fate," the warrior thought hatefully. "They cared nothing for the suffering of the Homeworld, and they let themselves get taken over by a Sith trickster!" These thoughts were interrupted by a chime from the speakers, signifying that the following orders were coming from High Command, as they had been programmed to disregard all else. "Depkrab 3, we have another mission for you, one that will require your special talents." Said an alive yet strangely toneless voice. "Requesting tactical ground support at 500 Republica. Come prepared." Suppressing his suspicions, the pilot scanned the ship's computer for directions, then steered his craft towards the target...

Jedi Temple, Central Hall  
Most of the Temple interior is cloaked in an all-consuming cloud of smoke, making the fight going on inside all the more technical and difficult to command, and very confused. A padawan ran through the fog, hunting for droids to slash apart, and clones to fight alongside with, as well as hopefully avoiding the massive, armored real hunter General Grievous. He had already seen him once, cutting apart the knight Kastis with ease. He did not to see that again. He heard blaster impacts close by; saw the huge outline of a B-2 droid stumbling backwards under a hail of plasma bolts, crashing to the floor at his feet. Two battered but ready troopers walked out of the mist, breathing heavily through their masks. "Captain, are you alright? You're the first Jedi we've seen for an hour." The padawan was about to speak, when he sensed danger close at hand, too late to warn the clones, who were torn apart by the volley of bolts. A Korrivan lieutenant and two Skakoan corporals, along with a squad of Special Operations droids (designated by their jet-black coloring and higher intelligence) scuttled from their cover to bear down on their enemy, the Korrivan chuckling. Then, suddenly, a cloaked figure sped in to slash the living soldiers apart while a fresh platoon of clones released a storm of fire at the Spec Ops. Seconds later, the droids were dismantled, and the cloaked figure turned around to reveal the visage of Anakin Skywalker. The padawan finally spoke, "Master Skywalker? But I thought that the General--" He never finished. With a hate-filled look, the rogue Jedi slammed him against a pillar, and then ordered the Clones to fire. His last sight before being reduced to a smoldering corpse was an enormous outline in the fog, frighteningly familiar and chuckling...

500 Republica, Main Landing Platform

The unusual craft and it's pilot land on the Central Platform of the building, which had not sustained much damage due to no air strikes being ordered in that area. The side of the building where the pilot was supposed to walk to however, was another story. A quick scan from his ship revealed extreme structural stresses, as well as a crashed HMP gunship that had apparently been downed by lightning. "Oh sure it's possible," thought the pilot warily, "but then again, I'm sensing a great deal of Dark side power, AND _I_ was called in for backup." He readied himself to sneer at the brave but foolhardy commander of this mission while drawing out his odd, pole arm style light saber. As he got nearer and nearer to the rendezvous point, the warrior began noticing an almost inaudible laughing coming from his comm device. Whatever the reason for this, the warrior was going to beat it out of the commander (Maybe he's cracked, he thought grimly). When he finally reached the point, He found only an unusual looking Magnaguard leaning against the wall. "Where is the Commanding Officer here?" He barked at the droid. Dead? No, there was still laughter, very audible, and close by. "Here!" said the droid in a distorted voice. And it was then that the agent realized that it was the droid who had been laughing, and that the distortion was suppressed mirth. "What the hell are you?!" he said, jumping back in alarm. "I am the one who ordered your expertise." IGX said, its voice beginning to calm. "I don't take orders from a droid!" the agent roared, springing forward to grab at the guards cowl. The reaction was instantaneous. Immediately the droid seized him, grabbed its double-bladed weapon, and pulled it against the agent's neck like a garrote. "Now you listen to me, fool," snarled the now irate guard into his ear, "I am your CO, and you will obey me. I could just as easily snap your neck right now if I didn't need your support. Now, are you going to follow orders, or am I going to end your sad, pathetic life?" With difficulty, the agent nodded, and then was let drop to the floor. "Good. Now here's the situation. On the next floor up is a very powerful armed force-user. The objective is to hold him here until General Sheelal arrives. Note that half my division has been destroyed by this entity alone. And now to business." They began clomping up the stairs to their target...

Jedi Temple, Central Hall

General Grievous was beginning to tire of this rogue knight Skywalker. He had already fought with him once, and had seen how he had started snatching kills from him in this fog. It was becoming an annoyance. The first time they had clashed, he had won by catching him by surprise. This was no longer possible as the clones had noticed him and started firing. The young rogue brought his sword up to parry just in time to meet the two-armed slash, and even going so far as pushing it back. So he's ready this time, Grievous thought. Good, it'll be more fun that way. He disengaged one of his extra arms for an upward swing. Blocked with the Force, and then countered. Second arm; same result. "So, Jedi, did your swordsmanship improve with your reaction time, or was that just dumb luck?" Grievous chided, planting himself on one foot and lashing out with the other. The young renegade was ready however, jumping over the kick, hopping off a pillar, and slashing down at the General's exposed head, hissing through gritted teeth," You are going to die, freak, and I'm going to enjoy it!" Despite the fact that his face was made out of cortosis weave, the heat from the saber in the middle of his of his features seared what was left under it, and brought forth a howl of pain and rage."JEDIIII!!" Grievous roared, moving every possibly offensive part of his body in a tornado of whirling metal and energy, forcing the former Anakin Skywalker to realize that he had bitten off far more than he could chew. He became hard pressed to keep the enraged General back, until a taloned foot slammed into his left shoulder, sending him flying off his feet, the loud crack of his collar bone echoing in the fog. During the fight throughout the hall, the supports and walls had taken their toll, and were on the verge of collapsing. All it needed was the flying body of Anakin to knock out the support holding up the pieces of floor above the central stairwell. Immediately, the hall was split in two by rubble, the combatants scurrying for cover. Some were crushed, others escaped alive, and both Grievous and Skywalker were separated by a thick sheet of rubble. His anger beginning to drain away, the general noticed a signal received by his built in headset. "This is an official report from the Vjun Salvage Team. Please respond." said the message header. "What does a glorified junk collector have to say that is relevant to the current situation?" Grievous snapped back, authorizing the Comms ship to go to live transmission. "Sir, with respect, if you want to make another use out of that sport of yours, you should listen," said an excited of an Umbrian. "We've discovered a device in the basement of Count Dooku's castle, which is very unusual but seems to have a clear purpose: the draining of living force energy to power other things. It seems to require a force-user as a subject, as we've discovered the burial ground of known Jedi nearby. Also of note is what appears to be a receipt for the device, which lists the manufacturers as Lyth Corporation. Interested now?" Indeed, the General was extremely interested, and he knew just who to use the weapon on...

500 Galactica, Chancellor's Suite  
Chancellor Palpatine (AKA Lord Sideous) had gone through a very long night so far. He had fought off a group of Jedi, indoctrinated a new apprentice, and then had seen his plans for the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic torn to pieces by a creature that was supposed to be dead. For this, he had a very good reason to be in an unholy temper. So far he had not spent his evening spreading his plans and reveling in victory but fighting an army of CIS droids and personnel. None of them had posed any challenge to his abilities, but then again, none of them were elite units built or trained to combat force-users. The next figures that cautiously walked through the blasted hole that had once been his door were. Humanoid, but very different; one a modified magnaguard, the other a Kaleeshi warrior and a former apprentice to Count Dooku. "My lord, what an honor to be in your presence." the warrior mocked. The Sith Lord paused, and then let loose a bolt of pure dark energy. At last the warrior showed his worth in erecting a shield that deflected the attack. "That's not going to work." said the agent. Palpatine snorted in contempt and drew his saber. "Let me see you laugh this down." the dark Lord hissed as he charged toward his prey. The two ignited their weapons and fought back to the best of their ability. Sideous however, was used to fighting multiple foes and countered both of their defenses with precise chops and riposte's. He slammed the Kaleeshi against the wall, then went for droid, now unprotected from force blows, but still capable of defending itself. Finally Sideous had enough of toying with the robot and ripped it in half and chopped it to pieces, spraying the floor with what apparently was hydraulic fluid. "And as for you, desert scum, did you honestly think you could fight the Lord of the Sith without being executed?" He would have gone on longer, but his diatribe was interrupted by a strange liquid voice. "It's not over, Palpatine.You have to deal with ME first." The Sith turned slowly around to see the repulsive sight of the fluid coming alive and reassembling the droid, it's head being woven back together as it spoke, it's eye glowing a murky red. "I have more power now than ever before!" Sideous readied himself as the abomination laughed, tentacles whipping out of the pool of grey...


End file.
